For Adults

Artist talks, special tours, hands-on workshops, films, lectures, and performances are scheduled throughout the year, many in conjunction with exhibitions on display.

Groups of ten or more may schedule free docent-led guided tours of Kemper Museum’s Permanent Collection and special exhibitions; to see more information visit the Museum's Tours page.

In Conjunction with Lexicon: The Language of Gesture in 25 Years at Kemper Museum

Lexicon Tours: Artist's Eye

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

2:00-3:00 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

Enjoy coffee and a tour of the exhibition with Kansas City architect Bryan Gross, who will discuss the signature design of Kemper Museum by world-renowned architect, Gunnar Birkerts, and his personal experience working on the project.

Bryan Gross brings over thirty years of architectural experience and a steady passion for excellence to all of his design projects. Often operating as both the project manager and the lead designer, Gross focuses on guiding the client team, the in-house design team, and the consultant team through the complexity of the design process in a manner that insures great design.

Gross earned his Bachelor of Environmental Design and Architecture degrees from the University of Kansas and Graduate Diploma from the Architectural Association in London, England. He is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited designer with an interest in designing high performance, sustainable buildings, and has been in the forefront of Helix’s initiatives in the areas of higher education and sustainable design.

Kemper Museum Trivia Night

Friday, May 31, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

6:00-8:30 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

Kemper Museum hosts trivia night on all things art and pop culture with KC poet and MC Glenn North. A complimentary taco bar and two beverage tickets will be provided to each in attendance, courtesy of Café Sebastienne.

This Kemper Museum Trivia night looks back to 1994, the year Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened to the public. The quiz will cover art, music, and movies from 1994. This nine-round trivia night will include quotes, Kansas City history, and mystery questions to test your 90s knowledge and beyond – with the final round a random knowledge showdown!

Register your team by emailing Jade Powers at jpowers@kemperart.org with your team name and number of participants (3-6). The team with the best name and most spirit will win a prize, in addition to the team which answers the most questions right. Space is limited.

Performance: Amado Espinoza Trio

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

6:00 p.m. cash bar, 7:00 p.m. program

FREE | Reservations required

Influenced by Andean music, Amado Espinoza Trio takes listeners on a journey through the unique sounds of native South American instruments. Espinoza is well known for his skill in playing dozens of native instruments, and since his arrival to Kansas City in 2014, he has been featured on stages throughout the region.

Amado Espinoza was born in Bolivia, and recognized his love for music at an early age. Performing in his elementary band at the age of eight, by the time he was sixteen he was formally studying music at the Andrés Bello Institute and later the Conservatory Milan in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

In 2000, Espinoza established the Museum of Musical Instruments for the Foundation Luis Ernesto of the Andes, housing over 500 pieces from six continents, and producing four albums for Tribu Kona, a world music ensemble that he founded. Between 2011-2012, he was in-house composer for the Circus Theatre El Tapeque, and composed music for the award-winning stage play Mocambo, among various commercial and independent productions. Amado has collaborated with many artists, most notably with one of Bolivia’s favorite rock bands, Oil.

To-date, Espinoza has been seen on TEDxKC, TEDxYouth, Folk Alliance International, and has been featured with many local bands. He is the 2017 Charlotte St. Resident Performing Arts Fellow; co-directed and composed We are the Landscape, a contemporary indigenous stage performance which debuted in 2016; and co-directing and composed UMKC’s Storytelling Project with his wife, theatre artist Karen Lisondra.

Lexicon Tours: Perspectives

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

2:00-3:00 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

Enjoy coffee and a tour of the exhibition with Dr. David Cateforis, chair of The University of Kansas Kress Foundation Department of Art History, professor, and author. Hear more about the significance of works in Kemper Museum’s Permanent Collection and the artists on view in Lexicon.

David Cateforishas lectured and published widely on twentieth century American art and international contemporary art. He is co-editor of Hybrid Practices: Art in Collaboration with Science and Technology in the Long 1960s (University of California Press, 2018), editor of Rethinking Andrew Wyeth (University of California Press, 2014), and author of numerous other publications, including essays and reviews addressing art in Kansas City.

Guided Meditation Series (June)

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

7:00-8:00 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

A special series hosted inside Kemper Museum galleries with Laura Frank of Inner Space Yoga, participants will be guided through meditation, qigong, breathing instruction, and sound healing. Some blankets and mats will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own yoga mat and small cushion, if possible. No experience necessary. Space is limited.

Guided Meditation Series (July)

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

7:00-8:00 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

A special series hosted inside Kemper Museum galleries with Laura Frank of Inner Space Yoga, participants will be guided through meditation, qigong, breathing instruction, and sound healing. Some blankets and mats will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own yoga mat and small cushion, if possible. No experience necessary. Space is limited.

Performance: Amber Underwood Project

Friday, July 26, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

5:00 p.m. cash bar, 6:00 p.m. program

FREE | Reservations required

Jazz flutist, educator, band director, and vocalist Amber Underwood is a native of Kansas City and has been entertaining and performing music since the age of 8. Her musical journey began on the piano and soon after she started playing classical flute. While in college, Wood discovered Jazz and became intrigued with the art form inspired by musical influences like Bobbi Humphrey, Hubert Laws, Frank Wess, Herbie Mann, and Nestor Torres and found a love for the art form.

Amber Wood graduated from Wichita State University at the age of 20 with a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance, and by 23 she completed a Master of Arts in Arts Administration and Music Business from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory. She earned a second Master’s degree in Education and Teaching Music from Pittsburgh State University.

In 2014 the Amber Underwood Project was formed with the mission to showcase the rich tones of the flute with a modern and fresh take on smooth jazz and R&B sounds. Wood lives and works in Kansas City.

Lexicon Spoken Word Night

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

6:00 p.m. cash bar, 7:00-9:00 p.m. program

FREE | Reservations required

Organized and MC’d by Poet Laureate of the 18th and Vine Historic District, Glenn North, local spoken word artists will perform a combination of original and known works, inspired by works currently on view at Kemper Museum.

Glenn North is Director of Public Programs at Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and is currently serving as the Poet Laurate of the 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District. He is the author of City of Song, a poetry collection celebrating Kansas City’s rich jazz heritage and the tragedies and triumphs of the Black experience. He is co-founder and artistic director of Louder Than A Bomb Kansas City, a poetry festival and slam that is a platform for youth advocacy in the areas of positive self-identity and community development. North uses poetry and spoken word as vehicles to promote the ideas of civic engagement and social justice. He also specializes in collaboration with artists of different disciplines to explore ekphrasis, or how poetry, visual art, music, and dance can intersect to create new forms of artistic expression in public spaces.

Lexicon Tours: Curator-Led

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

2:00-3:00 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

Enjoy coffee and a tour of the exhibition with Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs at Kemper Museum and Jade Powers, assistant curator. They’ll discuss planning for Lexicon, including the decision to rotate works on view throughout the exhibition.

Guided Meditation Series (August)

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

7:00-8:00 p.m.

FREE | Reservations required

A special series hosted inside Kemper Museum galleries with Laura Frank of Inner Space Yoga, participants will be guided through meditation, qigong, breathing instruction, and sound healing. Some blankets and mats will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own yoga mat and small cushion, if possible. No experience necessary. Space is limited.

Angel Otero (b. 1981, Santurce, Puerto Rico; lives and works in Brooklyn, New York) is a visual artist best known for his process-based paintings. While much of his works have been influenced by memories based in photographs and other family memorabilia combined with the gestures of twentieth century painting, his latest works highlight the artist's unique process as a form of narrative in itself.

Through his innovative process of oil paint scraping, Otero venerates historical oil painting while confronting it head on. Otero's 'deformation' approach to painting his works––first across glass and then once dry, flaying the dried paint and reconstructing the composition anew across large canvasses––is representative of how the artist perceives the process of reconfiguring both personal and historical narratives. Instead of representing his life through art, Otero archives moments within it by creating opportunities of surprise and discovery. His work is a constant negotiation between the individual and art history.

Summer 2019

2019 Block Party

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

6:00–10:30 p.m.

FREE | Registration required

Kemper Museum’s fifth annual block party! Join us to celebrate the museum’s twenty-fifth anniversary with featured music, food trucks, exhibition tours, family activities, a Museum Shop trunk show, and outdoor movie screening on the museum lawn to close the evening.